Almost There: How to Position Yourself to Win ASJA and Other Writing Awards

Do you find yourself entering awards competitions and coming up short?

We asked ASJA members who served as judges for the 2025 ASJA Awards to explain what catapulted entries into the winning spot. Winning entries inevitably have great writing, reporting, and research. But that was true of many entries in the same category. So, what made winners stand out?

Keep reading to find out – and to see a full list of ASJA members who volunteered as judges for the 2025 awards.

As you work on assignments this year and beyond–and before you get ready to enter the 2026 ASJA Awards– keep these insights in mind:

Choose the award category wisely. 

Judges for multiple categories said they wished certain stories had been entered in a different category that would have been a better fit. Before you enter the ASJA Awards, carefully read through the category descriptions. Then carefully read over your own entry. Depending on your subject and writing style, your entry may fall into one of several categories. For example, a piece of business writing can fit into the business writing category. If it’s a profile of a business leader, it may fit the profile category. If it’s a business article that addresses social change, it may fit the social change category. You get to choose which makes sense for your entry. Note: ASJA can not provide individual guidance on which category to enter.

Nail down your lede. 

The winning entries of the categories that Steven Yoder judged had really strong ledes, “something that yanked in the reader and didn’t let go,” he said. “Most often that was a powerful anecdote or a startling fact.” Yoder suggests that when you’re picking what to enter next year, “perhaps consider submitting those stories for which the lede is super strong and relatively brief.”

Enter a “hot” take. 

Yoder, who in addition to judging won both the top spot and honorable mention in the 2025 ASJA Awards Excellence in Reporting category, also found winning entries had an angle that readers weren’t going to see anywhere else. These angles offered unique insights on old issues, reporting on new issues that had completely evaded attention, or introduced new characters whose perspectives on existing issues had never been covered. 

Get emotional. 

Alice Sullivan helped judge the travel writing category. She said some pieces stood out  more than others because of  an emotional invitation or pull within the writing, “so that I could feel some of the same excitement, frustration, or joy as the writers while they were on their journey.” By contrast, articles that didn’t have an emotional connection felt flat and uninspired, Sullivan says.

When I reviewed winning entries in other categories, I found that they also featured a strong narrative arc and emotional journey.

Make sure your writing sings. 

Write your story in such a way that someone will read it and want to share it with someone that same day, recommends Caren Chesler, a 2025 ASJA Awards judge and past winner of several ASJA Awards. “I’ve seen stories that break new ground and yet were written so blandly, with too many dry facts and statistics, I could barely take in the information, “she said. “And I’ve read stories that were about something small and unremarkable, like cell division, but the writer spun it as an interesting yarn, and that made it memorable.”

Writing that sings isn’t just the words you choose, but how you choose to tell the story, Chesler added. She gives the example of an article she wrote about horseshoe crabs that won a past ASJA Award for science writing. Horseshoe crabs are bled of 30% of their blood so biomedical labs can use it to make a substance to test for bacteria. The crabs are returned to the water after being bled, but there’s a question about whether it affects their survival. Chesler told the story from the point of view of researchers who had bled some crabs, tagged them with small transmitters, and returned them to the water to test their vital signs over a period of time. “I went out on the boat with them as they did one of their rounds,” she said. “The story could have been dry. I inhabited it with humans and their interactions.” 

Thanks to the 2025 ASJA Awards Committee and Judges

The annual ASJA Awards runs on volunteers–people who give their time, energy and expert insights to judge the article and book categories. This year nearly 70 ASJA members and nonmembers stepped up and spent some of their summertime to read, critique, and decide the top winners and honorable mentions. 

With nearly 300 total entries spread across 18 article categories, and 30 book entries across five book categories, it was a big ask. Some members served as judges in both a book and a writing category, and some judged two or more article or content writing categories. Some went the extra mile, serving as ASJA Awards committee members, who helped to keep judging panels on task and troubleshooted any questions or concerns.

My fellow ASJA Awards co-chair Richard Eisenberg and I truly appreciate everyone’s efforts in deciding the 2025 ASJA Awards. Please join us in thanking all of the 2025 ASJA Awards judges. We hope you’ll be inspired to join their ranks for our 2026 ASJA Awards.

ASJA Awards Committee Members

David Steele, Christopher Johnston, and Marijke Vroomen Durning

ASJA Awards Judges

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Rita Colorito is a freelance health writer based in Greater Chicago.